Mail Order Motherhood by Kirsten Osbourne

Author:Kirsten Osbourne [Osbourne, Kirsten]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Romance, Historical, Victorian, Western, Historical Romance, Westerns
Google: agVuAwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00FTZ8JCM
Publisher: Unlimited Dreams Publishing
Published: 2013-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

*****

They found an easy routine after that. Their first real challenge was the first blizzard to roll through. As soon as Albert realized how bad it was, he strung some rope from the house to the barn so he could go back and forth easily to milk the cow and collect the eggs. They’d known a storm like this was bound to come, but she’d been surprised to see the first so early in the year. It was only early November. She was pleased that he wouldn’t allow Clarence to go out to the barn with him in the bitter cold.

Clara had planned on washing clothes the morning of the blizzard, so she simply strung a line up in the cellar and dried the clothes down there, keeping to her routine as much as possible. Natalie, Clarence, and Gertie sat at the table working on their schoolwork, while Clara mended clothes. Robert played quietly as he did every day while the older children completed their studies.

Albert was the problem. He paced the room. Back and forth. Back and forth. He couldn’t be still. “Are you all right?” Clara asked when she got too dizzy to let him continue.

He nodded once and resumed pacing. Clara tried again. “Do you want me to get your whittling for you?”

He shook his head, continuing to pace. She assumed it was just that he didn’t enjoy being stuck indoors, so she kept up her work, and tried not to notice his pacing. After the children were in bed, and all the work for the day was finished, he finally explained. “Every time we have a blizzard, we lose cattle. I always worry we’ll lose too much of the herd to keep going.”

Clara’s eyes widened with understanding. “When will we know how they fared?”

“When the blizzard is over. Hopefully this one will just last a day. Sometimes they’re four or five.”

They’d had blizzards in Massachusetts, of course, but they hadn’t had cattle to worry about. Farmers weren’t affected as much by the blizzards as the ranchers. She tried not to worry.

Finally after the third day, the winds died down, and he and Clarence left to assess the damage. They only lost a few head. He was relieved as he told her of their losses in bed that night. “I’ve lost as many as a hundred head in these storms. We were lucky this time. Only five were lost.”

They were thankful there weren’t more lost during the storm. “I’m so glad. Five isn’t good, but it could have been so much worse.”

“I know.” He hugged her close.

“For Christmas I’d like to have a turkey. Do you think you could get one? I want to make stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy. I know my kids love that.”

Albert nodded in the darkness. “I can do that. You have big plans for Christmas?” Sally had always made a big production at Christmas time, and he loved the idea of continuing that for the children.

“I’d like our first Christmas together to be special.

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